Past Oregon TWS President receives Young Forester Award

PORTLAND—Hillsboro resident Fran Cafferata Coe has received the inaugural Young Forester Award from the Oregon Society of American Foresters (OSAF). The award is given to an OSAF member that has demonstrated outstanding leadership in the development and promotion of an individual program or project, or for a sustained leadership role benefiting the practice of forestry and the Society of American Foresters.

She received the award at the OSAF annual meeting on April 28 in Coos Bay. Coe is the owner of a small consulting firm, Cafferata Consulting, LLC, a natural resource consulting firm specializing in helping forest landowners and managers understand how to effectively manage their forests for both healthy wildlife populations and sustainable timber production.

Coe graduated from Oregon State University with a Bachelor’s of Science in Fisheries and Wildlife Science in 2000, with a strong emphasis in the interactions between forests and wildlife. Today, she has over 13 years of experience completing environmental surveys for sensitive, threatened, and endangered plant and animal species.

For the last four years, she has been a contractor with the Oregon Forest Resources Institute (OFRI). She leads the Wildlife in Managed Forests program, which supports OFRI’s mission of elevating public understanding of how forest stewardship meets social, environmental, and economic needs of both present and future generations. She has authored or coauthored five high-profile educational booklets as part of the Wildlife in Managed Forests program. In addition, Coe has authored numerous articles for a wide variety of audiences on Wildlife in Managed Forests.

“This award recognizes the outstanding contributions of a young person to the Society and the profession at large,” said OSAF Awards Co-chair Tim Keith. “Fran has a passion for connecting the fields of wildlife biology and forestry. Fran is a young natural resource professional that has worked to develop and promote numerous programs, projects and collaborative efforts to benefit the practice of forestry, SAF, and The Wildlife Society.”

OSAF and its 15 local chapters represent all segments the forestry profession within the state. The society includes public and private practitioners, researchers, administrators, educators, and forestry students. Its mission is to advance the science, education, technology, and practice of forestry; to enhance the competency of its members; to establish professional excellence; and to use the knowledge, skills, and conservation ethics of the profession to ensure the continued health and use of forest ecosystems and the present and future availability of forest resources to benefit society.